Last night I ran a sequel session to a one-shot I ran a few weeks back.

Last night I ran a sequel session to a one-shot I ran a few weeks back.

Last night I ran a sequel session to a one-shot I ran a few weeks back. The opening session was fast and brutal with all kinds of people being killed for nebulous reasons (one-shots for ya, am I right?). For the second session, I wrote up a few Love Letters to show off some of the costs and rewards of those actions.

Here are a few of my faves;

Dear Rox the Wolf,

You finally did it! You got to Victoria and sank your teeth into her delicious throat. All is well, right? Think again there, pup! By killing your biological mother, you’ve crossed a line the wolf within cannot reconcile; pack is everything to the wolf, and you murdered your alpha. These things have consequences.

Until you learn how to make amends to the beast within, you lose access to Transformation and the Bloodhound move.

Hugs and Kisses,

Your MC

Dear Raphael the Fae,

You’ve satisfied your monarch’s enigmatic quest and the scales of justice have been balanced. Normally around this time you would feel a pull from your master beckoning you home, but not this time. This time you feel….nothing. Odd.

When you look into the sudden silence of your court, roll with the number of people helping you. On a 10+, you make an important discovery and take +1 ongoing to dealing with it. On a 7-9. you uncover a clue but still have some questions unanswered. On a miss, you, and everyone helping you, are in immediate danger from the secrets uncovered.

Hugs and Kisses,

Your MC

Dear Riven the Wizard,

You found a fancy little snuff box in Arthur’s possessions and decided it might be worth something, and worth something it is! You’ll figure out how it works soon enough, and when you do this is how you use it:

When you open the Snuff Box of Aldoon and take a sniff, speak the incantation and ask the box one question about the magical goings on in Chicago, then roll with Power. On a hit, you receive a detailed vision that answers your question. On a 7-9, the vision comes at a price to your body or soul; suffer 2-harm or mark corruption. On a miss, everything goes black and you come to in a bad spot.

Hugs and Kisses,

Your MC

If you’re a backer of the Kickstarter then you should check out the latest backer-exclusive update.

If you’re a backer of the Kickstarter then you should check out the latest backer-exclusive update.

If you’re a backer of the Kickstarter then you should check out the latest backer-exclusive update. We have the first full proof of the PDF available for you to preview and comment on.

If things stay on track in the coming weeks, we expect soft cover books will be available to purchase at GenCon with backer books shipping just before then. Exciting times, everyone!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1287928832/urban-shadows-rpg/posts/1281122

The voting for favourite Archetype was pretty widespread but there were some clear leads; The Immortal, The Tainted,…

The voting for favourite Archetype was pretty widespread but there were some clear leads; The Immortal, The Tainted,…

The voting for favourite Archetype was pretty widespread but there were some clear leads; The Immortal, The Tainted, and The Wolf all had the most votes so I thought it might be fun to enter the three of them into a tournament finale!

Choose your favourite from among these three and the winning Archetype will be awarded with a new Custom Move and Starting Debt line. May the best Archetype win!

I thought it would be fun to do a poll of everyone’s favorite Archetype but sadly Google will only allow up to 5…

I thought it would be fun to do a poll of everyone’s favorite Archetype but sadly Google will only allow up to 5…

I thought it would be fun to do a poll of everyone’s favorite Archetype but sadly Google will only allow up to 5 options per poll. So instead I’ll structure this as a regular post and I will list each Archetype in the comments and let everyone vote with a +1. 

So yea, what’s your fave, and why?

[rules update: only 1 vote per person, sorry]

The final Archetype-Avatar brings us to The Vessel.

The final Archetype-Avatar brings us to The Vessel.

The final Archetype-Avatar brings us to The Vessel.

Crafted by humankind through magicks and dark rituals, the Vessel is created to serve, entertain and protect. For this choice, I have to go with Jean Claire/Protean from Penny Dreadful.

Jean Claire is so cool! Poetic, self-educated, tortured, and scary as f*$k when pissed off!

I suspect we’ll get some great examples from you on this one. Let me have it! 😀

Archetype-Avatar time again folks.

Archetype-Avatar time again folks.

Archetype-Avatar time again folks. 

Today we look at the Scholar. Now I have some personal favourites for this one but I don’t think Marissa Kelly would appreciate me choosing anyone other than Dean Corso from The Ninth Gate. Given that the Scholar is her Archetype, can any of us really argue with that? 

Dean is pretty much the best example out there. I welcome other’s though.

Well it’s that time again, Archetype-Avatar of the day time!!!

Well it’s that time again, Archetype-Avatar of the day time!!!

Well it’s that time again, Archetype-Avatar of the day time!!!

Today we look at The Immortal! Timeless, scheming and distant.

There can be no clearer choice in my eyes than Dorian Gray, specifically DG from Penny Dreadful: who clearly works hard on the Hedonism Scheme. 😀

Have any other thoughts for this one?

Archetype-Avatar time again! Today we look at The Dragon.

Archetype-Avatar time again! Today we look at The Dragon.

Archetype-Avatar time again! Today we look at The Dragon.

This one was….hard. The Dragon is very unique to Urban Shadows, encompassing themes of reincarnation, arcane powers and being a mother-frickin’ DRAGON!

I ultimately ended up deciding on Evelyn O’Connell from the Mummy series, specifically her in The Mummy Returns. Evelyn clearly has some arcane inklings as she’s able to raise Imhotep from the dead (by accident!) and we learn in the sequel that she’s the reincarnation of an Egyptian princess. And let’s not forget she comes back from the dead with the combat skills of her former life in tact after her former Rival kills her. Take that Bembridge Scholars!

Can you think of any better examples?

The Archetype-Avatar of the day activity was a lot of fun for me and I thought I would finish off with the base…

The Archetype-Avatar of the day activity was a lot of fun for me and I thought I would finish off with the base…

The Archetype-Avatar of the day activity was a lot of fun for me and I thought I would finish off with the base Archetypes but then I didn’t! 🙂

This week will feature the Limited Edition Archetypes for you to enjoy. We’ll head in alphabetical order and start with The Angel.

Insanely powerful, divine, and servile, the Angel is the proxy of the Almighty here on earth. For me, this choice was super clear, Castiel, patron saint of Thursdays.

I can’t imagine a better choice, but I’m happy to be proven wrong.

What’s this? Two Archetype-Avatars in one day!? But that’s just wrong!

What’s this? Two Archetype-Avatars in one day!? But that’s just wrong!

What’s this? Two Archetype-Avatars in one day!? But that’s just wrong!

[Yea so I have a crazy busy weekend ahead of me and I didn’t want to leave this until Monday, so we’re going to double up today.]

The final avatar is The Wolf: primal, territorial and scary as all hell! I settled on Peter Rumancek from Hemlock Grove (two avatars from the same show?! For shame, Drew!).

Peter is so the perfect Wolf, he fits the delinquent punk that we love to see in our Wolves. He takes it upon himself to protect Hemlock Grove (his Territory) from whatever is killing its citizens, sacrificing a great deal in the process. Not to mention his first transformation is my favourite wolf-out scene ever!

[howls a challenge at you to do better]